Around the Green

Garcia and Jones Lead Texas Girls' Invite after Round 1

Pearland, Texas – Julia Garcia and Hailey Jones are tied for the lead in the 10^th annual Texas Girls’ Invitational after both players posted opening-round scores of even-par at Golfcrest Country Club.

Temple’s Garcia got off to a rough start with bogies on No. 2 and No. 3 but settled down with five straight pars and a birdie on the par-4 ninth. She made another bogey on the 13^th, but bounced back with a birdie on No. 14 and finished with a birdie on the 356-yard 18^th, the fourth
hardest hole in the first round.

Dallas’ Jones made a birdie on the par-5 third hole, but made bogey on the par-4 seventh and turned at even-par. She made a bogey on the par-5, 496-yard 10^th hole but answered with a birdie on 11 and another on 13 to get to 1-under. A bogey on No. 18 dropped her back to even-par on the day and tied with Garcia heading into Sunday’s second round.

Maelynn Kim of Katy, Allyn Stephens of Houston and MacKenzie Moore of Trophy Club are tied for third heading into the second round at 1-over-par. Kim made two birdies in her first nine holes to turn at 2-under but dropped three strokes on the back side to fall back to 1-over. Stephens made three birdies on the day, including the par-5 first and the par-4 18^th en route to her round of 1-over. Moore made a birdie on No. 3 and a bogey on the par-3 5^th and the par-3 8^th, but played her final 10 holes even-par.

Three players sit in a tie for sixth place at 2-over-par, including Frisco’s Caroline Kent, Austin’s Jensen Jalufka and Katy’s Elinz Sinz, while three players sit in a tie for ninth at 3-over-par, Sugar Land’s Natalie Cao, Mico’s Gabriela McNelly and Plano’s Olivia Mitchell.

League City’s Emma Luna sits in 12^th place at 4-over, while Austin’s Mimi Burton, Plano’s Sydni Leung and Boerne’s Delaney Martin are tied for 13^th at 5-over.

Golfcrest Country Club is hosting the Texas Girls’ Invitational for the first time in the tournament’s 10-year history. Golfcrest CC is located in Pearland, Texas, which is just south of Houston. The club was founded in 1927 and moved to its current location in 1971. The course is being stretched out to 6,061 yards for the Texas Girls’ Invitational and players are challenged with tight fairways and elevated greens.

High Meadow Ranch Golf Club was the host of the first Texas Girls’ Invitational in 2010, followed by Gleannloch Pines Golf Club in 2011. The tournament moved to Bentwater Yacht & Country Club in 2012 and remained there through 2016. Crown Colony Country Club hosted the event in 2017 and Sugar Creek Country Club hosted last year.

The Texas Girls’ Invitational moved to 54 holes in 2019. The championship was contested over 36 holes the previous nine years, but the LJT wanted to add a World Amateur Golf Ranking to the event as well as offer another 54-hole event on the schedule.

The second round of the Texas Girls’ Invitational will start at 8:00 am on Sunday, Feb. 17. Tee times were redrawn according to scores from the first round with the leaders teeing off last. To see all the pairings for the second round, click here.

For all the scores from Saturday’s action at Golfcrest Country Club, click here. To learn more about the Texas Girls’ Invitational, click here.